by Chirag Asaravala

At a recent classic-Ford car show I polled the attendees to see how many of them also owned a new Ford vehicle. Not surprisingly, most of the them had at least one 2000 and newer Ford, Lincoln or Mercury

Whether your family hauler is this 2006 Ford Freestyle or some other new Ford vehicle, the MSD DashHawk will enrichen the driving experience.

vehicle in their garage. These cars were their daily driver, spouse's car or family hauler.

Many of them said that while they loved driving their new Ford Explorer, Edge, Freestyle or -fill in the blank- they felt disconnected from the vehicles. As one owner put it, "These new computer controlled cars are so complicated, I feel like I have no idea what is going on under the hood." They expressed concerns about not being able to see basic information such as engine temperature or rpms. One owner said it best, "I'd like to know what is going on with my car."

Information Overload
It's not that modern computer controlled cars don't have or need this information, in fact it is quite the opposite. Due to emissions regulations, the computers on all new vehicles sold in the US must monitor hundreds of powertrain parameters. This is done via a standardized system called On Board Diagnostics (OBD-II for short). Due to the sophisticated engine controls on modern cars, auto makers have figured that all most drivers want to know is if there is a problem, in which case you are informed via a dummy light on the instrument panel.

Well we don't have to be dummies any longer because we can access this data and make sense of it with the right tools. MSD has created a handy little device that plugs into the vehicles OBD-II service port. It's that simple. Once installed you can use it to obtain and do all sorts of neat stuff. From easily viewing every engine parameter being tracked by the computer, to using that data to calculate things like quarter mile and zero-to-sixty speeds, the DashHawk opens up your driving experience. The DashHawk doesn't "tune" your computer, so you need not worry about altering the performance or emissions status of your car. We recently played with the DashHawk so we could show you just how useful this tool is.

The DashHawk is literally plug-and-play. Connect the supplied cable to the OBD-II port. The OBD-II standard says the port must be placed under the dash and visible if you are kneeling at the edge of the door. Just feel round, the rectangular port is usually right between the drivers knees under the steering column.		The other end of the cable plugs into the back of the DashHawk. Turn the ignition key and the unit will come to life. There is no complicated tinkering required to make it work. The on-screen menus are easy to use. We immediately set the LCD screen to display in FordMuscle blue rather than default green.
The kit includes some "hook-and-loop" fastener tape for mounting the DashHawk. It's fairly lightweight and thus doesn't need heavy duty fasteners. We set it up right here on our F150's instrument panel.		Another option is to pick up a universal suction-cup mounting solution (see side bar.) This will let you put the unit in line of sight with the road.
The DashHawk has a concise and well designed user interface. We figured out every feature and function without once having to refer to the manual. The main menu is shown here.		You can configure the DashHawk to display data as two parameters on the screen in bar-graph form or up to six in a table form (as shown in image 1). You can preset up to eleven different data screens and then simply scroll between them using the arrow buttons.
Over 100 parameters are available for display and datalogging. Some of them are very eye opening, such as the transmission temperature (we noticed our F150 tranny temps rising as much as 50°F at wide open throttle.)		The Alerts function is one my favorites. Here you can set the Dashhawk to alarm if certain conditions are exceeded. You can set multiple alarms for various parameters. The flashing red screen and audible clicking work great as a shift indicator light in the case of the RPM monitor.
Perhaps the most entertaining feature is Performance Testing. Two tests are available, a 1/4-mile "dragstrip" test and a 0-to-60 mph test. Along with the MPH, ET and distance you can record an additional five parameters. You can check the ET and mph on screen, and also download it to your PC (with the supplied USB cable and MSD software) for playback.		The Diagnostics functions consists of a powerful data logging tool as well as code reader for DTC's (diagnostic trouble codes).
Some service shops charge a minimum one hour of labor to retrieve trouble codes from your computer. You can do it on the fly with the DashHawk. Unlike many readers which just spit out a number which you have to then look up in a book, the DashHawk gives you a description right on the screen.		The DashHawk has some very impressive data logging capability. You can pick as little or as many of the parameters you wish to log. The log can be reviewed on the DashHawk screen or on your PC for more sophisticated graphing.
Using the USB port on the DashHawk and the supplied software you can transfer your datalog or performance data to your PC. The software also lets you install updates to your DashHawk from the dashhawk.com website.		The DashHawk software enables you to graphically visualize, and replay, the datalog as well as the performance data. This is quite useful in determining the impact of things like timing or air intake temperature on performance.

As you can see the DashHawk is a simple to use device that gives you vast access to your new Ford's computer. While it takes just a few seconds to become familiar with the easy user interface, it will take some time to learn all of the parameters available to you. One thing is for certain, you will get so hooked on seeing real data that you may never glance at your factory dummy gauges again.